TEST DRIVE: APRIL

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: APRIL—

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Date reminders. Reserves open Saturday, March 25 and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on April 1st.
  
  
• OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
  
  
• Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
  
  
• Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...

• Prompt D: The Flower Festival is soon, and that means that a lot of caterers, cooks, restaurants and anyone involved with cooking are gearing up to participate in the celebration. This means that there’s plenty of places that are offering food at enormous discounts, or running food related events outside of their stores. One particular setup is in the center of the market area, where tables upon tables of food have been set up as a sort of buffet: pick what you want and pay as you leave! Unfortunately, someone mischievous has created a real problem. The buffet has turned into an all out food fight and it doesn't look like it’s stopping anytime soon...

1. Join In. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Might as well join the fun since it’s happening anyway, and you’ve probably already found yourself victim to an errant pizza slice or something already. Grab a handful of whatever is nearest you or pick up a spoon and get that food flying!


2. Pay up. The fun can only last so long, and none of the vendors are happy. While the food fight has been broken up, the place is still a mess. Participants and people caught up in the crossfire are all being blamed equally. Grab a mop and a dustpan and get cleaning. Or, try and argue your way out of being taken to the local enforcers station and given a hefty fine.

• Prompt E: It’s already spring, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who are still interested in a few last minute winter escapades. Luckily, with cores and emotion fueled dunamis, things like this aren’t exactly off the table yet. A small portion of Lake Niras has been turned into a winter wonderland, down to a thick layer of ice that’s almost strong enough to be skated upon. However, this isn’t what it’s being used for. The local Polar Bear club has decided to hold a springtime version of their usual event and currently has open registration for those who think they’ve got the willpower to take the plunge in the icy water.

1. Dive Deep.Strip down to your skivvies or don a bathing suit and jump in! The challenge is to stay in the longest of 4 or 2, or to just beat your personal best. In lieu of joining up yourself if you don’t feel like freezing your tush off you’re more than welcome to lead the cheerleading team!!! ... Who are all dressed as different interpretations of Sosyne...


2. Maintain The Cold. Those who aren't the participating kind might find themselves attracted to the more “Stage hand” like portion of the club event. Those who have practiced dunamis, the art of using your emotions to create all sorts of manifestations under control, might be able to help maintain the frigid temperature in the air that’s causing the snowfall. Or, if you’re just a really negative person you could be unintentionally making it worse. Otherwise, there’s always a need for a few extra hands at rotating the frozen water cores which are helping keep the water particularly icy. Just be careful and try not to get too excited or you’ll melt the cores!

• Prompt F: Ghost tours have become all the rage in Verens, and tonight you find yourself coming along, either willingly or by having one of the organizers pester you into it. But being a guest isn’t the only way to participate—they’re taking volunteers to “assist” as well, to help spice things up and improve the mood. Harness your emotions to make the atmosphere more sinister, or just hide in some bushes or around some corners to surprise someone with an old-fashioned “boo!”

1. Sewers Dark and dank, the tunnels underneath the city are already a good place to scare or be scared. The tour takes characters through a lesser-used portion of the sewers, meaning it’s slightly less smelly, but there’s still plenty of opportunity for spooky stories. Don’t get caught by the mossgator or the restless spirits of its victims...


2. Inside the Memory Tree The giant tree that stands in the city’s square hasn’t always been a safe place, especially the dungeon-like spaces inside. The twisting wood and vines have been home to all sorts of monsters that have been a threat in the past, from moving plants with sticky vines to shadow creatures with sharp teeth—or so the tour guides will say. The tree may not have been around long enough to have much history to it, but that doesn’t stop them from playing it up.


3. Abandoned Buildings
Always a necessity for any ghost tour, this leg of the trip will take characters past and through a few rundown places, including an old warehouse, a creaky mansion, and a set of dirty apartments. Don’t forget all the dark alleyways in between, or the stories of long-past serial killers who choked their victims to death right over there…

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include maraschino cherries and/or knives.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!

Comments

[lothrat]

"Look, I don't know what else to tell you." He gestures grumpily. "I don't have all the answers. I don't even know what really happens when we go back. Maybe you won't even be able to tell that you left, like none of this even happened." He just absolutely hates the idea of his life here having no meaning, no impact, or that he'll forget the people he's met here. "I don't want it to be that way, but either way, until we can find out more about what's even going on, there's nothing we can even do about it."

[neverwantedtobesith]

"And there's no one for me to pry answers out of," Garth'zel says just as grumpily. He hates this. He wants to know how and why this happened, not just do... whatever it is he's expected to do.

[lothrat]

Ezra shakes his head. "Even the Jedi Masters here don't know." They'd been the first people he had asked. "And definitely not me, so if you don't need me for anything else..." He trails off pointedly. Can he make his escape yet? Because there are some Jedi Masters who need to know that there's a Sith on the island now.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Who are the Jedi Masters here?" Garth'zel pounces on that. Sounds like there's at least two. If Ezra is still trying to keep him from learning how many Jedi were here, he's doing a poor job of it.

[lothrat]

Yeah, no, Ezra's not that dumb. Revealing that there's more than one is one thing. He did already imply that before. But exact numbers? No. Try again.

"What does it matter?" he says. "It's not like you'd know who they are. They're all from around my time, give or take a decade or two."

[neverwantedtobesith]

Thunder growls in the distance as a sign of Garth'zel's annoyance. "I'm going to meet them eventually. Knowing who they are ahead of time saves me the trouble of looking for them. Instead, meeting them can just be whenever it happens on its own."

Does Ezra want him hunting them down? Does he?

[lothrat]

Better to make Garth'zel go looking for what he wants than to just hand him the information without protest.

"I'm sure you'll meet them if they want to be met." And maybe they will want to meet this Darth Imperious. But that's for them to decide, not Ezra. "Why don't you try asking them yourself? You've got an amulet, don't you?"

Ezra's sure he does, and he's also just as sure that Garth'zel has no idea how to use it yet. Anticipation bates his next heartbeat. A lesson would be exactly the opportunity he needs to send off his own warning to them.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel eyes him suspiciously. He has the feeling this child is trying to pull something. What, he doesn't know. Although he'll play along. For now. "Amulet?"

[lothrat]

What are you talking about, Garth'zel? Ezra is only being helpful here. Not trying to pull anything at all. "Yeah, check your stuff, or see if there's something hanging around your neck, or in your pockets." He reaches up to pull his out - a thin, spiraling point that might almost look like a shell, unless someone's ever seen the Jedi Temple on Lothal to recognize what it is. He's had his crystal long enough for it to take on a definite light blue color, indicating his alignment with Sosyn. He wouldn't be surprised if Garth'zel's is colorless, though, new as he has to be.

"Everyone has one of these when they show up," he explains. "Don't ask me how we get them. We just do. They're really important, though, not just useful. Don't take it off for too long, or you'll get sick, maybe die."

[neverwantedtobesith]

Does it look like he has any pockets in those robes, child? He fumbles around his neck for a moment before pulling one out that looks like an upside-down teardrop with no color whatsoever. But there was definitely a drop or two of liquid in it already. He tilts it to watch what was inside move before giving Ezra a skeptical look about the potential consequences of not having it on his person.

"You'll need to explain that one."

[lothrat]

Look, he has no idea what Garth'zel might be wearing under those robes, and he's not going to ask. Or maybe there's inner pockets. Who knows? Not like he does the guy's laundry.

Anyway, he found his amulet, and that's what's important. "I already told you this place has emotion magic," he says. "Well, when the world reacts to your emotions, it's using that energy. Without a buffer, it'll end up draining you."

Or something like that. Ezra's a little sketchy on the exact details, but that's the main gist of it.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Wonderful. Like a less bloody version of what Dashades do." Not that he expects Ezra to have any idea what those are. They were rare even in his own time; he could count the amount he's met on one hand.

He eyes the amulet some more, mentally prodding at it with his senses to see what he could pick up that way.

[lothrat]

"Dashades?" He's right not to expect Ezra to know what those are. Ezra looks at him, cautiously wary.

There's not much to sense about his amulet yet, except maybe the latent energy from those few emotion drops and an echo of whatever emotion produced them. Ezra will give him a minute to try to satisfy his curiosity, though, before he goes on with his explanation.

"Anyway, if you focus on your amulet, you can use it to talk to people. If you just picture the words, it'll show up as writing, or you can think like you're talking, or you can send images." He pauses, focuses, then sends his own thought.

"Like this."

[neverwantedtobesith]

"A species who were resistant to the Force being used on them. They also fed on it, which tended to mean Jedi and unwary Sith. I had one as a follower after I freed him from stasis and beat him in combat." Khem Val's honor demanded he follow the Sith who beat him, even if his pride was injured by being defeated by a mere acolyte who wasn't even an apprentice, much less a lord come fully into their power.

He suppresses a twitch when he hears Ezra's voice in his head. Just what he needs. More people talking in his head. As if the ghosts he shared space with years ago and more recently, Valkorian before he wandered off, wasn't enough. "I see."

[lothrat]

Ezra twitches at the description. A species that feeds on the Force sounds like really, really bad news.

"Remind me never to go wherever those guys live."

And he's going to make a mental note to look them up if he ever gets back somewhere that he can access those kinds of databases.

He debates for a moment telling Garth'zel that calls to his amulet can be ignored and not answered. But, well, he doesn't have to be that helpful here. He'll probably figure it out on his own anyway.

"This is what it looks like with text, or with video. Sort of video. You'll see what I mean."

What follows is some scratchy Aurebesh, and then a mental image of Ezra and his surroundings.

And in between, he sneaks in a call to some Jedi Masters.

Help him, Masters Jinn and Kenobi. You're his only hope.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Their homeworld was destroyed almost a thousand years before I was born, killing most of them. If there are any left in your time, they've probably found someplace people usually don't go. Keeping them from worrying about the Jedi seeing them as a threat to be wiped out." He's not too worried about the possibility of running into any of them, really.

Garth'zel absorbs the other methods, deciding that he generally preferred the original method, although he recognizes the value of the last option for helping to find the person being spoken to if needed.

[lothrat]

Ezra frowns, something about Garth'zel's phrasing rubbing him wrong. "You keep talking like the Jedi are the only threat to them." Which just sounds wrong. Jedi are supposed to be the guardians of peace. They're not supposed to be seen as the aggressors.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"You mean any Sith of your time wouldn't see them as useful servants and assassins, as needed? My mistake," Garth'zel says sarcastically. He knows his opinion, and is sure that any future Sith would share it, or at least have similar ones.

[lothrat]

Ezra folds his arms and lifts his chin defiantly, staring Garth'zel down (and never mind how hilarious that probably looks, considering how short he is.)

"I don't know about the Sith in your time, but the Sith in my time have a habit of doing way more killing than any Jedi."

And not just because most of the Jedi are dead.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Given this child needs a ladder if he wants it to actually work, yes.

Garth'zel just shrugs at that. "I'm not arguing that we're more known for such things. Feeling a little defensive, are you?"

[lothrat]

"I'm just correcting an idea you've got wrong," Ezra says bluntly. Then changes tack, because no, he can think of other things he wants to do than talk to a Sith all day. "Look, I've answered your questions. Can I go yet? Or are you planning to kidnap me?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Fine. Go," he says, a localized rain shower appearing at the site of his annoyance. ...Which he isn't doing intentionally, but he'll take it.

[lothrat]

Ezra makes a noise like a wet Loth-cat, because of course the rain is right over his head. But freedom is freedom and he's going to take it, stalking off (not running) before Garth'zel can change his mind.